Counteract transience in animations by cueing attention or segmenting the animation¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 2 studies (1 review, 1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

For animations other than human-movement demonstrations, the review recommends counteracting the negative load effects of transience. Two named means are "cueing to guide attention to the right place at the right time" (De Koning et al. 2009) and segmenting the animation, which "slows the pace of presentation, thereby enabling the learner to carry out essential processing" (Mayer 2005). The strategy applies wherever computer-based learning environments use transient animated or video information.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• The animation must be designed so that attention is cued to the right place at the right time or presentation is segmented

Constraints¶

• Not needed for animations showing human movement procedures, where the transience problem is reduced or eliminated

Target Learners¶

• learners studying animations or videos of natural, mechanical, or biological processes or problem-solving procedures

Target Learning Goals¶

• learning from dynamic visualizations

Claims¶

• Transient information in animations poses a serious challenge to learning, except for animations of human movement procedures [+W]
• Segmentation improves learning from dynamic visualizations, but because studies always used pauses, whether the pause's processing time or its segment-end signal drives the effect is unclear [+W]
• In a multimedia animation, participants focused more on signalled objects and detected fewer changes in other screen areas [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Tamara van Gog & Fred Paas & John Sweller. (2010). Cognitive Load Theory: Advances in Research on Worked Examples, Animations, and Cognitive Load Measurement. Educ Psychol Rev (2010) 22:375–378. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-010-9145-4